Longitudinal Latent Profiles Of Work-Family Balance: Examination Of Antecedents And Outcomes

Work-family balance is often defined as the extent to which individuals are satisfied and functioning well, both in work and family domains, with the lowest level of role conflict (Clark, 2000). In the present study, we sought to identify longitudinal profiles of work-family balance and examine their mediating roles in the relationship between job control and core self-evaluations and turnover intentions. Data were gathered from 789 Finnish employees through an online survey across 3 time points covering a period of 2 years (2008-2010). The results of the latent profile analysis identified 4 distinct longitudinal work-family balance profiles: active balance (31.71%), passive balance (20.84%), beneficial balance (27.71%), and harmful balance (19.72%). The results also showed that the higher the perception of job control and the greater the core self-evaluations reported by employees, the more likely they were to be in the beneficial profile than in other profiles. Furthermore, turnover intentions were significantly higher in the harmful balance profile group, compared with other profile groups. Moreover, work-family balance profiles mediated the relationship between core self-evaluations and turnover intentions. Our study broadens the previous literature by longitudinally examining work-family balance profiles and by testing the linkages between profiles and their antecedents and outcomes.